tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32297679718937857772017-07-23T10:07:09.982+02:00المرآةThe Moroccan Mirror
(Archive)
Now blogging on almiraatblog.wordpress.comHishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-2781417344643767922008-11-16T12:42:00.014+01:002008-11-17T08:44:20.753+01:00FarewellHanding Over to the Mirror on WordPress...This is the Mirror on Blogger Signing Off.Good Night and Good Luck Everybody!This is my Closing Theme:The Journey Continues Here.Picture Courtesy of "daveknapik"Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-55869228263028540292008-11-15T12:42:00.005+01:002008-11-15T13:04:53.319+01:00The Mirror is MovingI’m in a process of moving this blog permanently to another location… if you're not too bothered by the rubbish I've been beaming here for almost -gosh!- one an a half year now (man, time runs fast!) please go pay a visit and make yourself at home whilst I’m constructing it!All suggestions are welcome by the way.See you!Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-29331430910763838562008-11-07T17:34:00.010+01:002008-11-07T18:03:22.759+01:00What the... ?I'd be very interested in knowing your reaction to the very first appointment made by Mr. Obama. I may sound a bit over the edge here, but forgive me if I'm a bit sceptical. Indeed I'm more than that: My blood was boiling and I was deeply frustrated to the announcement of Rahm Israel Emanuel as chief of staff. Yes! because I somehow secretly hoped that this guy (Obama) would deliver and that -as Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-64707227128175762352008-11-04T19:09:00.013+01:002008-11-04T21:55:33.429+01:00The Case For ObamaFrom an Arab perspective, foreign policy is paramount as far as the next American president's intentions are concerned. Of course there is the ambivalent approach on Iran, the position on Israel (read this too), the condescending interventionist stance on Pakistan and all the rest of it. But let's face it: The question here for anybody who has the privilege to vote in this crucial election and Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-75058280383023600322008-10-13T19:04:00.006+02:002008-11-10T17:01:22.505+01:00The StingSocialising Risk, Privatizing ProfitWhat happens when a democracy gets hijacked? When the pillars of justice metamorphose into pillars of sand and salt? When what was intended to be the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave transforms into a open battlefield for mean private rascals who don't give a damn about public interest and social justice let alone justice in international relations?I have toHishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-88565756655800233822008-10-04T15:13:00.010+02:002008-10-04T18:08:44.439+02:00Last Man Standing"One man with courage makes a majority." Andrew Jackson Who said that all Jews are Zionists?Who said that all Americans are brainwashed?Who said that America has lost its soul completely?Who pretends that no one American today dares criticizing Israel's crimes?Judaism IS NOT Zionism...Israel doesn't represent all Jews...the Holocaust industry is a monumental fraudulous scheme (apart from the Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-67970539289285231702008-09-15T08:02:00.011+02:002008-10-04T18:04:42.092+02:00This blog will be on a symbolicSTRIKEtoday, September the fifteenth in solidarity with Mohamed Erraji who might be momentarily free, but who hasn't yet got off the hook. Moroccan bloggers and their friends around the place are joining efforts to name and shame the Moroccan government and put pressure on those who can put an end to this parody of justice. Please join this effort by publishing Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-24493866480864260392008-09-12T03:06:00.012+02:002008-09-24T18:07:47.878+02:009/11, Seven Years On: Safer? Freer?Yesterday was an interesting discussion on BBC's World Have Your Say on the subject matter of whether the American reaction to the 9/11 attacks "has made the world a safer place?" in which I had the chance to participate.Much to my surprise, I discovered that one of the architects of American policies in the immediate aftermath of the shock was invited to answer the questions of anonymous Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-31272070357981460362008-09-11T17:35:00.019+02:002008-09-13T02:55:38.689+02:00Thou Shall Not BlogAnother prisoner of opinion, Mohamed Erraji, has been jailed (then released) in Morocco, and again for a crime of lèse-majesté.A Moroccan court in the coastal city of Agadir has sentenced in September 08, 2008, Mohamed Erraji, a journalist and blogger, to two years in prison and to a fine of around 600 US dollars. Erraji was convicted for "failing to respect the sacrality of the monarch" under Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-81299259962326197772008-09-01T14:03:00.001+02:002008-09-06T21:58:34.246+02:00Ramadan KareemPicture Courtesy of "laNDN."Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-17186997001014257842008-08-31T17:13:00.015+02:002008-09-06T21:58:19.233+02:00Moroccan Extraordinary RenditionsThe British high court has Friday, given David Miliband, the foreign secretary, a week to disclose documents related to the detention in 2004 (abduction shall we say) of a British resident, Binyam Mohamed currently detained at Guantánamo Bay.As reported by the Guadrian.co.uk and according to Mohamed's team of defense, the man "was detained in Pakistan in 2002 and secretly rendered to Morocco, Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-79023944198807726932008-08-28T08:27:00.011+02:002008-09-06T21:57:55.855+02:00Viva La Vida* (Slightly Modified)Especially dedicated to Arab dictators.I used to rule the worldSeas would rise when I gave the wordNow in the morning I sleep aloneSweep the streets I used to ownI used to roll the diceFeel the fear in my enemies eyesListen as the crowd would sing:"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"One minute I held the keyNext the walls were closed on meAnd I discovered that my castles standUpon Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-33322825794046958842008-08-14T21:49:00.006+02:002008-09-27T17:58:44.154+02:00 By traveling freely across cultures <?xml:namespace prefix = o />those in search of the human essence may find a space for all to sit... Here a margin advances. Or a centre retreats. Where East is not strictly east, and West is not strictly west, where identity is open onto plurality, not a fort or a trenchMahmud Darwish1941 - 2008 Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-58199926330729192822008-08-14T19:30:00.011+02:002008-09-06T21:57:08.974+02:00Agnostic What?I've been touring Morocco this summer and I spent quite a pleasant time rediscovering my own country. I thought I would embark into an intellectual as well as physical journey, setting about to enquire into how much change has occurred since I've been away. I was interested in the subtlest forms of change, shifts in attitudes, the trends, amongst the youngsters of course and in details of Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-30534797533591832972008-08-02T21:35:00.020+02:002008-09-06T21:56:39.539+02:00Ragged Trousered Blogger CallingHe - Ibrahim ferrer & compay segundoHot summer night down here. I'd like to share this elegant and refreshing song of the late Ibrahim Ferrer with anyone who's passing by. Anyway I'm not sure if the adjective 'blogger' applies any longer since I haven't been blogging for quite a substential amount of time now. I've turned to some kind of a lazy bohemian. I've been away for longer than I expectedHishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-30393659625455935642008-05-23T16:39:00.007+02:002008-09-06T21:56:27.929+02:00Just a Little Break"Most people are mirrors, reflecting the moods and emotions of the times. Some people are windows, bringing light to bear on the dark corners where troubles fester. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." Sydney J. HarrisThe Mirror is pausing because of damn-important exams. I'll be back very soon. In the mean time, I'll continue tracking and avidly reading all my Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-65259760528359319932008-05-12T02:32:00.007+02:002008-09-06T21:56:14.432+02:00Pity the NationThe puppet regime in Beirut -officially led by Mr Seniora but remotely controlled by Mr Saad al-Hariri and his Western mentors-, which now has become a laughing-stock in the whole middle-east, has been forced to back down in the face of a perfectly organized Lebanese resistance led by Hezbollah, but comprising elements from all parts and groups of the Lebanese society.Here is the account of the Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-59852169228917751262008-05-12T01:38:00.008+02:002008-09-06T22:10:18.010+02:00Of Mice and Men, Part IIThe US War on JournalistsIf one wants to begin to understand the folly behind the abduction, torture and imprisonment of a man like Sami al-Hajj read this analysis of Amy Goodman, the host of "DemocracyNow," one of the few left independent news outlets in North America.Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-24622941452815218302008-05-11T21:56:00.014+02:002008-09-06T22:22:38.853+02:00Smile for PalestineSixty years after the Nakba the picture in Palestine is depressing, to say the least. But over the last decade or so, we've witnessed a dynamic of renaissance and awakening amongst the justice and peace camp, and the breaking down of some important taboos which served so far, helping Israel get away with its crimes against not only the Palestinian people but also against justice and History.Many Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-74218155782354620542008-05-10T01:21:00.007+02:002008-09-06T22:22:57.281+02:00Need Some Breath of Fresh Air?For those who need a break away from the ongoing chorus of sycophantic praise to the State of Israel throughout the mainstream media, here is what Uri Avneri remembered 60 years after the Nekba and the creation of the state of Israel, in an article relating his early commitment to Zionism (he even -surprisingly- participated at some point in attacking Arab villages, i.e. the early stages of the Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-86865816405921703322008-05-02T17:51:00.012+02:002008-09-06T22:10:33.024+02:00Candid JamaïAboubakr Jamaï, the former editor and publisher of Le Journal Hebdo (Casablanca), was hosted yesterday by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars under the subject matter: "Morocco: A Stalled Democratization Process?"Excerpts from the candid discussion that ensued can be found here.Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-90289145518968132132008-05-02T15:42:00.008+02:002008-09-06T22:10:46.344+02:00Of Mice and MenAfter six years in an American gulag called Guatanamo, Aljazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj has just been released according to an Aljazeera.net report."Rats are treated with more humanity", al-Hajj said to his Aljazeera colleagues."But we have people from more than 50 countries that are completely deprived of all rights and privileges."And they will not give them the rights that they give animals," Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-43100198174451351002008-05-01T15:24:00.006+02:002008-09-06T21:53:58.545+02:00May DayRemembering the dead of Casablanca and wishing for a better and more dignified tomorrow for all fellow workers around the place.Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-52009863060981029702008-05-01T12:08:00.028+02:002008-09-06T21:53:42.550+02:00"How Do Arab Regimes Modernize Authoritarianism""Since when have you compelled people to enslavement, since their mothers birthed them free."Omar Ben al-KhattabThe Arab world is the one single region in the world that has little if not changed at all since François Georges-Picot and Mark Sykes determined its majors outlines according to their government's respective spheres of influence, prior to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229767971893785777.post-52074138112485441382008-04-28T15:53:00.008+02:002008-09-06T21:53:27.733+02:00Cruel“Fascism is capitalism plus murder.” Upton Sinclair.A fire destroyed the lives of 55 Moroccan workers, among which 35 women, in a mattress factory in Hay Hassani, an industrial district of the city of Casablanca.According to aljazeera.net, "Civil protection officials said it had become clear that safety norms had not been applied in the Rosamor factory in the south-west of Morocco's biggest city.Hishamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07303451078690636594noreply@blogger.com2